


the little prince

by winkout



Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Space Opera, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-12 15:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20566574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winkout/pseuds/winkout
Summary: Wooseok is on a mission to find his missing love. In order to do so, he must travel the planets and stars, and meets strangers and old friends alike.(with apologies to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)





	1. Saturn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check end notes for warnings.

It’s in his garden one peaceful morning when Seungwoo remembers. And it’s only because right in front of his eyes, the boy from his memories appears right in front of his eyes. A bright comet in Saturn’s desolate tundra: Wooseok.

Wooseok blinks up at him. “Seungwoo,” he greets. “It must have been 27 years, right?”

“It _is_ my birthday, how did you know?” 

Wooseok simply laughs. “Happy birthday.”

* * *

They take a walk along the garden that Seungwoo has lovingly raised on his own. 

“The roses have grown quite well,” Wooseok observes. “They were just saplings before.”

“You taught me well.” 

They share a smile and a long note of silence.

“Has it been just you all this while?” Wooseok asks.

“I get visitors, sometimes. I got better at taking care of them. And there’s this man—”

Wooseok turns to him with such a sly smile on his face that Seungwoo’s face immediately begins to flush. “He-he… visits me often,” he finishes lamely.

“And what is the name of this man?” Wooseok says, his big eyes practically sparkling in delight.

“His name is Seungsik...” Seungwoo doesn’t know what to say about Seungsik. He’s so much to Seungwoo, and at the first chance of expressing who he is and what he means to Seungwoo—it’s almost too much.

“He’s a traveler. Like you. He helps me sometimes with the garden, and when a new seed blows from another planet, he knows how to tend to it… so really, this is his garden as much as mine…

“Like the hibiscus.” Seungwoo leans down to touch a petal with as much gentleness as he can muster. “He taught me to make tea from the petals.”

Wooseok leans over to smell it. “I’ve never seen any flower like this.”

Seungwoo snorts. “You’ve only seen your rose.”

At that, Wooseok’s expression turns possessive. “My rose is—”

“Special. I know.” Seungwoo laughs, and the tension is broken. Wooseok looks away, his head bowed. Seungwoo’s mind fills with a thousand questions at once. “Are you still...?”

“I will find him,” Wooseok says simply.

Seungwoo gazes at the willow tree that marks the end of his vibrant green garden, and to the barren lands beyond. “Would you like to try some of the tea Seungsik made? He just came over yesterday.”

Seungwoo laughs as Wooseok nearly spits out his huge gulp of tea. “It’s sour.”

“I told you to sip, not down it. Isn’t it hot?”

Wooseok mock-glares at him over the rim of his tea cup, and pointedly adds five cubes of sugar.

Seungwoo drinks his hibiscus tea without a drop of sugar. because Seungsik brewed it just how he likes it.

Wooseok refuses the cake Seungwoo brings out. “Shouldn’t you be eating the cake?” he says. “You’re the birthday boy.”

“Ah, Pluto tradition?”

“Earth’s. They light candles and make a wish. You know, you could have had 27 birthdays if you were on earth.”

“Am I that old?”

Wooseok shrugs. “I can’t say you’re old if I don’t know if I’m older or younger than you. The last time I saw you, your head didn’t even reach my shoulder. And look at you now.”

“You can call me your older brother.” Seungwoo laughs.

“I refuse!” Wooseok adds more sugar to his tea, but he doesn’t drink it.

An odd feeling overtakes Seungwoo’s otherwise cheery mood, but he quashes it. A visit from his oldest friend is a gift indeed. “It’s good to see you again.” 

_ How long will you stay this time? _

Wooseok smiles, toying with the stem of his teacup. “You too.”

* * *

_ Saturn's all Seungwoo has ever known. There was one girl, the then-keeper of his garden, who raised him and brought him up until Seungwoo knew his way around the house and garden like the back of his hand. _

_ And then he was entrusted with the garden, and the girl—and god, it’s been so long that Seungwoo can’t remember her name—left in a bright light that illuminated the entire land, as far as Seungwoo could see. _

_She told him his birth was like a shooting star. So when Wooseok arrived as he did, he had thought that Wooseok was here to stay forever._

* * *

They’ve both migrated to the greenhouse, at the floor-to-ceiling windows that give them a perfect view of the entire garden. It’s twilight now, and Seungwoo wonders how much time has passed on Pluto, on Earth, or any of the planets he’s never even been to. But Wooseok has, probably ten times over.

“What did you wish for, when it was your birthday?”

Wooseok settled back against the lawn chair as he mulls the question over. “I used to wish for silly things, because I never thought they would come true. And then.” Here his eyes turn dreamy, and Seungwoo knows what he’ll say before he says it.

“Jinhyuk.”

Wooseok nods.

“Do you know where he is?”

“The sun. That’s the last I’ve heard.”

Worry crosses Seungwoo’s face. “That’s…far. How long did it take you to get here?”

Wooseok is quiet for a while. “Hey, Seungwoo? For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry for leaving you like that the last time.”

Seungwoo shakes his head. “You surprised me.”

Wooseok smiles. “And.” He heaves out a giant breath. “I’m sorry this time, too. 

“What?”

The sun has already set. So when a bright light shines from the very end of the garden, Seungwoo turns so quickly he almost gives himself whiplash. There, he sees his younger self, barely a teenager, cradle Wooseok’s limp body to his. Without even listening, he can feel in his own heart the wail that rips apart the sky.

He turns back to see his Wooseok reclined peacefully with his eyes closed and it’s enough to get him running, cutting through his beautiful garden, trodding over the roses and hibiscus to get to him—himself.

“Shhh—shhhh. It’s okay.” He takes the boy’s shoulders and turns his face into his chest, lets him soak his shirt with hot tears. He gazes into the night sky, and he imagines Wooseok flying across the universe to Jinhyuk. 

“He’s okay, he’ll even come to see you again,” he says, because he knows this to be true.

Because this has all happened before, of course. But Wooseok has at least spared him the kindness of not telling him when.

* * *

**SATURN**

_The Master of Time_

> Saturn is the fifth planet that orbits around our Sun. It has a legendary cycle of 27 years. When it finally returns to the same place whence you were born, it forces you to face yourself in past and future. It is a taskmaster, representing discipline through difficult times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CHAPTER WARNING: pseudo character death**  
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and purely for entertainment, no real science is in this and YES i am aware that Pluto is a dwarf planet not a real one (sorry pluto, u were my fav).


	2. Pluto

“—seok. Wooseok. Wake up.”

The first thing Wooseok sees is the deep blue of the ocean. The water dances across his windows, sending ripples of silver all over his room. He turns over to smile at his love, his rose.

“Jinhyuk, it’s too early,” he mumbles, but he still leans up for a kiss. 

Jinhyuk’s mouth is soft and warm and Wooseok could kiss him forever, but today Jinhyuk moves away, almost distracted. And doesn’t that send a shiver of possessiveness down Wooseok’s spine.

He grabs onto Jinhyuk’s hand just as he’s about to get up from their bed. “What’s the hurry?”

_ What else could possibly be more important? _

“The sun’s rising,” Jinhyuk says, going to Wooseok’s side of the bed. “Don’t you want to watch?” And then he smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. 

A gentle pressure, and Jinhyuk has Wooseok tucked against his side, Wooseok still half-covered in his blankets. It’s perfect. 

He looks up at the man in his arms. Jinhyuk is watching the window intently, his eyes sparkling in the darkness. But even then, he never fails to remember Wooseok. He has his thumb on Wooseok’s waist softly stroking the bare skin, and his chin is resting against Wooseok’s hair. 

Every couple of minutes, Jinhyuk adjusts the blanket, because he knows Wooseok gets cold easily. 

The sun rises eventually. Jinhyuk makes a loud shout, startling Wooseok out of his slumber and he nearly tumbles off the bed, and the cold hits him like ice. But the moment is still perfect.

Because he’s in love. 

* * *

The thought, like every other grand idea that Jinhyuk has ever had, comes innocuously enough. It usually begins with a question:

“I wonder what living on the sun feels like,” Jinhyuk says, as he turns down the bed.

Then Wooseok, who is used to such flight of fancies, humors him. “It must be hot,” he says. 

And then Jinhyuk will laugh, because he finds whatever Wooseok says in his deadpan voice to be funny. He usually never brings it up again. 

They tuck in for the night, both of them lying side-by-side staring up at the ceiling, where the silver waves flutter and illuminate the room in turns.

“I wonder how far it’ll take for me to get there.”

And here’s the break in their routine.

“Well,” Wooseok says carefully. “How long did it take you to get here?”

Jinhyuk sighs. “I can’t remember. I mean, I can’t really remember how everything first began.”

Something twists in Wooseok’s chest. “I remember when I first found you.”

Jinhyuk doesn’t answer him. Wooseok suddenly feels small, inadequate. Jinhyuk tells him that his words have always been too beautiful to ignore, and right now Wooseok has said the wrong words, he knows it. So he tries again.

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” 

Jinhyuk hums in assent. He’s not ignoring Wooseok anymore.

“Well.” Wooseok perks up a little. He shifts closer, pushing his face against Jinhyuk’s shoulder, a question.

Jinhyuk answers instinctively, turning to his side so Wooseok can press right up to his beating heart. His arms come around Wooseok’s waist in a tender embrace, and Wooseok nearly forgets that he’s supposed to tell a story.

_ My rose, _ Wooseok thinks, hiding a smile against Jinhyuk’s chest. _ My sweet desert rose. _

* * *

Wooseok was a comet, sent to Pluto to be born.

When he first awoke, he found that the small planet was split into two halves, one filled with water, and the other a dark desert. Wooseok drank the water, and found that it nourished him.

He drew maps from the deep recesses of his mind and built a house in the ocean. The sound of the waves lulled him to sleep, and when the sun came, it made beautiful patterns that lit up his entire house. He found fertile soil in the pockets of the desert, built a greenhouse and made sure the sunrise lit it just right. A house within a house. He couldn’t grow anything, because he’d never found a seed.

And all this while, he hoped for a companion, a sign of another life.

There were lots of things to do as a caretaker of a planet, and Wooseok dutifully went about them. He made meticulous notes on the sand dunes and the ocean tides, calculated the wind speeds and the sketched constellations that appeared every so often. 

Wooseok was aware of time passing, in a way one might notice an insect if it came into your field of vision. The sun rose and set, and some days were hotter than others. Some days, the water above Wooseok’s window froze solid, and those days were the worst because he had to be inside with his thoughts.

And then he was abruptly not alone anymore.

Jinhyuk came crashing into his orbit, landing right in the Seam between the desert and the ocean. Wooseok startled, but he knew deep in his bones what he needed to do. 

He took the unconscious boy to his house, still dripping wet from the water currents, and lay him down on his duvet. He watched the sun rise and set two times before the boy opened his eyes and looked right at Wooseok.

“Wooseok?”

“How do you know my name?”

“The same way that you know mine.”

Wooseok blinked. He did. “Lee Jinhyuk.”

Jinhyuk grinned at him. It made the corners of his eyes crinkle. And Wooseok knew, along with Jinhyuk’s name, that he had been sent here just like him. 

A certain lightness overtook him. He was not alone. He was not destined to be alone, after all. Jinhyuk was here, and he would be here until the end of time and space and the little planet they call Pluto. 

It was destiny. And he and Jinhyuk were meant to be.

He felt slightly giddy. He grabbed Jinhyuk’s hand and helped him up, and everything that he’d only ever thought to himself came pouring out.

He told Jinhyuk about the ocean, the desert, and the Seam where he found him. He took him around to look at all the rooms that he built in his house. There was a room full of mirrors he polished from sea glass, another room full of his charcoal sketches, and another empty room just in case…

All the while, Jinhyuk listened with a smile on his face, and in retrospect Wooseok was happy that his rambling didn’t burden his new companion. 

They stop in front of the last room.

Jinhyuk’s smile widened, if it was even possible. “You built a greenhouse?” 

Wooseok nodded, heart aflutter with pride.

Jinhyuk reached into his pocket and pulled out a half dozen of seeds.

“What are these?” But ah, Wooseok already knew the answer before Jinhyuk could utter the words.

Jinhyuk cradled the seeds close to his chest, like they were treasure. “They’re roses.”

* * *

Jinhyuk tried his best, but only one out of the six seeds sprouted.

“What should we do with the five seeds?” Wooseok held them in his hands. They had long since withered into dry husks, but it was odd to just leave them.

Jinhyuk turned his gaze from the lone sapling to look tenderly at him. “We’ll get better with the next batch. We just have to focus on the one that’s left.”

Wooseok bit his lip. What Jinhyuk said was certainly true, but that didn’t mean the rest didn’t matter. “We should go to the Seam. And let them rest there.”

“Okay.” Jinhyuk’s hand came up to rest over Wooseok’s. “And then we’ll come back before sunset to care for our rose.”

“Our rose?” Wooseok’s heart did all sorts of somersaults in his ribcage.

“Yeah.”

Wooseok buried the husks in the desert, just shy of the lapping waves, and stepped back onto the boat. 

“Ready to go?” Jinhyuk’s gaze was achingly sweet. 

Wooseok took a deep breath. His exhale came out shaky. “Okay. Let’s go home.” He took his oar and started to row.

“Heave-o!” Jinhyuk shouted, and the sound echoed back in disjointed little fragments. 

“Heave-o!” He gave his oar an exaggerated pull, sending their boat jerking across the waters in a sharp right.

“What are you doing,” Wooseok cried and tried to correct their trajectory, but he was laughing along with Jinhyuk.

They got home to tend to their rose just as the sun was setting. Later, when they parted ways for bedtime, Jinhyuk drew him up against his own chest and kissed him for the first time. 

Wooseok kissed him back. Of course he did.

It was destiny.

* * *

“You really don’t remember?” Wooseok whispers to Jinhyuk, his hand coming up to grasp his lover’s sleep shirt. 

“I do,” Jinhyuk says, and leans in to kiss him. “I do. It’s just been so long, don’t you think?

“Do you ever wonder where we came from? And if there’s something _ more _ waiting for us out there?”

“No,” Wooseok says, stubborn. “I was born to tend to this planet. It was what I was—” _ we were _ “—made for.”

Jinhyuk turns to look up at the ceiling and its iridescent lights. “Don’t you wonder what rises and sets on the sun?”

_ He has no idea _, Wooseok realizes. 

Jinhyuk did not build this house. He did not navigate its topography, climb across the desert dunes to find sparse fertile soil. He did not spend days thinking of how to fashion a writing instrument, frustrated that he couldn’t write down any of his ideas.

Wooseok has done enough exploring for his lifetime. 

For the first time, he sleeps with his back to Jinhyuk.

It doesn’t take long for Jinhyuk to start crafting contraptions that can help him fly.

* * *

The thing about being too late: you only know after it happens.

Wooseok is dusting himself off on the porch when he notices that the house is too quiet. Usually Jinhyuk would be humming, or making a ruckus with his new pet project. 

He checks every nook and cranny before he can summon the courage to go to the bedroom. Wooseok sees the letter on their duvet and feels as though the ground gave way.

The letter begins with: 

> _ Wooseok, _
> 
> _ I’m sorry. Please wait for me. _

And that’s all it takes for Wooseok to crumple the letter against his face to stem his tears. It doesn’t work.

* * *

To Wooseok’s credit, he did wait. 

The single rose blossomed, thankfully. Wooseok took care of it almost obsessively, and now the greenhouse is filled with flowering buds, the scent overpowering.

There are lots of things to do as a caretaker of a planet, and Wooseok dutifully goes about them. During his downtime, and in an effort to stop his mind from churning, he draws approximately seven hundred sketches of his rose-filled greenhouse.

Wooseok is aware of time passing. The sun rises and sets, and some days are hotter than others. Some days, the water above Wooseok’s window freezes solid, and those can be the hardest to get through.

It’s on one of those days that Wooseok finds Jinhyuk’s notebook. He was dusting the study, and one of the drawers got stuck. He pulled, hard, and a slim, black hardcover fell out from underneath the desk.

He’s instantly overcome with tears. 

He draws the book open to see the initial sketches, when Jinhyuk was still getting used to the charcoal sticks. Then scribbles of the field notes they were supposed to keep of the planet. Some scribbles are of Wooseok’s name. A doodle that Wooseok can vaguely make out to be himself, dancing on a sphere with a single rose.

That makes him smile. He traces the drawing with his fingertip, not daring to press too hard for fear of smudging it. 

“When are you coming back,” he says to the empty room. “I bet you’ve gotten distracted on your way there, huh? Silly Jinhyuk.”

He takes the book to their bedroom, and looks at it from time to time.

More sunrises and sunsets. And somehow sunsets always feel a lot more lonelier than sunrises, because it means that another day has passed, and Jinhyuk still has not yet returned.

One morning, Wooseok plucks up the courage to flip to the end of the book, where Jinhyuk’s note stop abruptly at the last prototype. It was Wooseok, not Jinhyuk, who had built the house and everything in it, so it takes him less than a day to finish the instrument. 

He sets it aside, and builds a self-watering device for his greenhouse. Then, an automatic sensor for the wind and temperature. Another for the lock on his front door, just in case.

And when he finishes everything he can think of, he watches the sun set. It’ll be awhile before he sees it again.

* * *

**PLUTO**

_The Phoenix _

> Of all the major bodies, Pluto is the smallest and furthest away from the Sun. In 2006, astronomers demoted Pluto to a "dwarf planet".
> 
> Pluto is the great revealer, pitting your greatest fears of being destroyed against the pursuit of the deepest longing in your heart. It represents rebirth, often manifesting in seismic events that shake our very foundations. 
> 
> We might not think we exist without the ground beneath us, but if we're brave, we may come to discover there is life even after this sort of death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in the original the little prince left his planet by floating away with a bunch of balloons lmao don't @ me
> 
> i've sort of fleshed out this plot a little more and i'm thinking of incorporating 1-2 x1 member(s) into each chapter. some characterisations still remain a mystery to me though (especially baby line) so i'd love to know what you think of them! 
> 
> /insert disclaimer about public image this is just fiction and fun blah blah/
> 
> [music](https://open.spotify.com/track/4f8vOdxAoeFABjX5iFXUCb?si=G-zNgYRUR5q5ACuLR7m7fA)


End file.
